Prep football preview: San Francisco

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The close game expected when these teams met in the regular season quickly deteriorated when Washington had no answer for the Lowell ground game. The Cardinals pounded out 462 yards rushing and scored touchdowns on seven of their first eight drives to stun the Eagles 51-14. But Lowell coach Danny Chan isn’t counting on today’s San Francisco Section semifinal to necessarily follow the same pattern.

"They have a new coaching staff and hadn’t seen us play, so they weren’t prepared for our offense," said Chan of Lowell’s wing-T attack. "This time, they’ll be ready."

There’s little secret the Cardinals love to run the ball, as back Bismark Navarro (1,205 yards, 26 TDs) leads an offense that racked up 2,715 rush yards this season (an average of 387.9 per game).

Wash has the offensive firepower to hang with Lowell, boasting perhaps the Academic Athletic Association’s best quarterback in Derf Butler (997 yards, 14 TDs) and an explosive running back in Maurice Barton (855 rush yards, seven TDs). But the big question is whether the defense can make enough stops to get the ball into their hands.

TODAY’S S.F. SECTION

PLAYOFF GAME

MISSION (5-3)

AT LINCOLN (7-3), 2 P.M.

The Bears should be full of confidence after beating Balboa 60-13 in an all-or-nothing game for the section’s final playoff spot. Lincoln is pursuing its third consecutive Turkey Bowl title and quarterback Ronnie Marania (11-for-15 with four TDs in his last four games) is getting hot at the right time.

SATURDAY’S CCS

PLAYOFF GAME

TERRA NOVA (5-4-1) AT RIORDAN (5-4-1), 1 P.M., CCSF

Record-setting receiver Daniel Cannon and the Crusaders will try to follow in the footsteps of cross-town rival St. Ignatius, which followed a solid West Catholic Athletic League season with a CCS Medium School Division championship a year ago. Cannon set league records for catches (38) and yards receiving (740) for Riordan this season and could be tough for the Tigers to stop.